Asked by: Baroness Andrews (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Retained EU Law statutory instruments are relevant to Common Frameworks; and what proportion of all Retained EU Law statutory instruments this number represents.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is too early to assess the number of statutory instruments (SIs) needed to amend retained EU law but all SIs will be publicly available once laid before Parliament.
The Retained EU Law Dashboard shows where retained EU law sits across departments, policy areas and sectors. It is updated quarterly to document the government's progress in identifying, amending, repealing or replacing retained EU law.
Common Framework documents set out the key Retained EU law that is relevant to those Frameworks. The Government is working to identify which Retained EU law is relevant to existing Common Frameworks and we are discussing this with the devolved governments through the Frameworks.
Asked by: Baroness Andrews (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of items of legislation on the Retained EU Law Dashboard that will be retained, broken down by department numerically and as a percentage of the total to be retained; and if they are currently unable to provide this information, whether they plan to publish it before Report Stage of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill in the House of Lords.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Each Government Department is responsible for its own Retained EU Laws (REUL). They are currently in the process of assessing and developing proposals for whether they intend to revoke or reform each piece of legislation, or preserve it from the sunset, following normal policy-making procedures. This will include assessing whether the REUL is still needed, if it is operable and fit for purpose, working with relevant stakeholders as appropriate. Any resultant legislation will be laid before Parliament in the usual way. The Government plans to update the retained EU law dashboard to reflect the outcome of this process on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Baroness Andrews (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the criteria for determining which items on the Retained EU Law Dashboard are to be retained.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Each Government Department is responsible for its own Retained EU Laws (REUL). They are currently in the process of assessing and developing proposals for whether they intend to revoke or reform each piece of legislation, or preserve it from the sunset, following normal policy-making procedures. This will include assessing whether the REUL is still needed, if it is operable and fit for purpose, working with relevant stakeholders as appropriate. Any resultant legislation will be laid before Parliament in the usual way. The Government plans to update the retained EU law dashboard to reflect the outcome of this process on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Baroness Andrews (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take if any relevant Retained EU Law that underpins the Common Frameworks programme is revoked; and what changes they will make to the dispute resolution process to ensure that it can be utilised to deal with issues arising from the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Each Common Framework contains a review and amendment mechanism. This ensures the Framework can adapt to changing policy and governance environments in the future and provides for both periodic review and an exceptional review triggered by a significant issue. A significant issue is an issue that fundamentally impacts the operation or scope of the Framework. In many cases, reform of the retained EU law which a Common Framework covers will comprise this. Where retained EU law covered by a Framework is revoked, the parties to the Framework would be able to use this mechanism to review the Framework and make the required amendments.
Whilst there are minor differences between the dispute avoidance and resolution mechanisms set out within different Common Frameworks they all follow broadly the same structure and process, and can escalate into intergovernmental relations level mechanisms where necessary. The dispute avoidance and resolution mechanism in Frameworks are designed to deal with policy and governance disputes arising under the Framework. This is a broad category and as a result disputes about reform of retained EU laws would already fall within scope without change required.
Retained EU law itself forms a key part of the scope of individual Common Frameworks and retained EU law reform could necessitate changes to a Framework. This would include any changes to working groups.
For Common Frameworks that are not fully implemented, the amended provisional Common Framework will be published on the completion of legislature scrutiny and sign-off by relevant ministers. As this includes NI ministers this will take place when the NI Executive is restored.
For Common Frameworks that are fully implemented, the amended Framework would be published on GOV.UK once all parties had given their approval, as a matter of course. Again, this will depend on the functioning of the NI Executive.
Asked by: Baroness Andrews (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their proposed changes to the Common Frameworks Governance structures necessitated by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, including the terms of reference and proposed memberships for the relevant working groups.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Each Common Framework contains a review and amendment mechanism. This ensures the Framework can adapt to changing policy and governance environments in the future and provides for both periodic review and an exceptional review triggered by a significant issue. A significant issue is an issue that fundamentally impacts the operation or scope of the Framework. In many cases, reform of the retained EU law which a Common Framework covers will comprise this. Where retained EU law covered by a Framework is revoked, the parties to the Framework would be able to use this mechanism to review the Framework and make the required amendments.
Whilst there are minor differences between the dispute avoidance and resolution mechanisms set out within different Common Frameworks they all follow broadly the same structure and process, and can escalate into intergovernmental relations level mechanisms where necessary. The dispute avoidance and resolution mechanism in Frameworks are designed to deal with policy and governance disputes arising under the Framework. This is a broad category and as a result disputes about reform of retained EU laws would already fall within scope without change required.
Retained EU law itself forms a key part of the scope of individual Common Frameworks and retained EU law reform could necessitate changes to a Framework. This would include any changes to working groups.
For Common Frameworks that are not fully implemented, the amended provisional Common Framework will be published on the completion of legislature scrutiny and sign-off by relevant ministers. As this includes NI ministers this will take place when the NI Executive is restored.
For Common Frameworks that are fully implemented, the amended Framework would be published on GOV.UK once all parties had given their approval, as a matter of course. Again, this will depend on the functioning of the NI Executive.
Asked by: Baroness Andrews (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many retained EU Law statutory instruments (SIs) are within the scope of the Common Frameworks programme; how many of these SIs are the responsibility of Scotland and Wales respectively; and when they plan to publish their scenario planning for the impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on the operability of the Common Frameworks programme.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is too early to state the volume of legislation needed to amend retained EU law as the number of SIs required will depend on a range of factors. All SIs will become publicly available once laid before Parliament, in the usual way.
The Retained EU Law Dashboard shows where retained EU law sits across departments, policy areas and sectors. It will be updated quarterly to document the government's progress of amending, repealing or replacing retained EU law that is not right for the UK.
The purpose of Common Frameworks is to manage divergence, and whilst the sunset date within the Bill may encourage a quicker pace of reform, there is nothing unique to REUL reform that places it beyond the ability of Common Frameworks to handle in the areas they cover. As such, no specific scenario planning is required. I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave her today to HL5580 and HL5581: the Review and Amendment mechanism within Frameworks is designed to allow a Framework to be updated should a relevant change, such a reform of a significant piece of retained EU law that in the scope of the framework, require it.